Quote:
Originally Posted by Fishbrain  Hey everyone,
I've recently picked up an acoustic bass which had a repair job done on it about 4 years ago when the neck came off!
It's had been glued back on with that rubbery white wood glue but it's starting to move away again now and while it's still solid it's made the action up the dusty end massively high.
I've done a repair of this kind scale before, am I best taking it to a pro? Or is this something that can be easily sorted at home?
Thanks! |
The repair is called a neck reset. It is one of the most difficult repairs to perform on a guitar. It requires a high degree of skill in both luthiery and woodworking.
The rubbery white woodworking glue is a good choice. Yellow glue, like Titebond, is a slightly better choice. However, the failure was not caused by the glue. It was caused by a poorly fitted joint.
The success of the repair depends on the mechanical strength of the joint. That means both parts of the dovetail must mate perfectly. This usually means adding wood to the joint in the form of shims. The shims are glued to the male (neck) part of the joint. Then the neck is fitted buy shaving wood off both sides of the joint until the neck is plumb, straight, and angled properly to fit the bridge/saddle. It is a tight press fit. When done correctly, the guitar can be strung and played without any glue in the joint. Of course, that is not a permanent solution. Glue makes the repair "permanent." But not so permanent that if or when the joint fails again that the glue does not impede the next repair.
Should you take it to a pro? If you think a truss rod is for raising and lowering string height, or wonder why bridge pins rise out of the bridge when a string is tuned to pitch, find a qualified luthier to do this job for you.
